This Week in TV

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This week in TV, Empire, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder delivered drama and gif fodder, while Scream Queens featured the guest appearance of a very familiar face. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Bob’s Burgers had the week off, but worry not—they’ll be back next week, along with our related thoughts and feels.

**Greetings, from your weekly spoiler alert! If you’re not caught up on one or more of the aforementioned shows, please come back later—unless you don’t care about spoilers, in which case—please proceed!**

Finally! This week’s Scream Queens blessed us with an appearance from the one and only #teenboss and our commander-on-fleek, Tavi. She played a Mia Farrow–inspired character named Feather McCarthy, who is also Dean Munsch’s sworn nemesis. This episode moved more slowly than previous ones, because there was a lot less to catch up on, and it was mostly driven by the love triangle between Feather, Dean Munsch, and Dean Munsch’s ex-husband, who left his wife for the much younger Feather. It’s also the first episode without the Red Devil, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying.

What I really loved about the introduction of Feather was the based-in-reality horror her plot line brought to the table, and I’m wondering if the series will do more of that in the future. The Feather/Dean Munsch/Mr. Munsch love triangle was based on the IRL love triangle among Mia Farrow, the conductor André Previn, and the musician Dory Previn, who was then married to André. Dory had a breakdown after her husband and Farrow’s betrayal, and then wrote the song “Beware of Young Girls” about it. The song was the episode’s namesake, and played as the closing credits rolled.

When Feather discovered that Mr. Munsch was murdered, the reveal was much darker than previous ones. It got even MORE twisted when his ex-wife admitted to the audience, via voice-over, that she had done it and framed Feather. The voice-over mixed with the Dory Previn soundtrack had me thinking about the show’s motivation: young women getting “what they deserve.” When I first started watching the series, my wariness stemmed from the fact that it seemed to be trying to prove that young women are vapid and should be put in their place. The redemption of Chanel No. 1 among her fellow Chanels, and this week’s chilling scene of Feather being put in solitary confinement while screaming about how much she loved Mr. Munsch, makes me hope and believe that the show’s satire may actually be on young girls’ side. –Brittany Spanos

I wasn’t prepared for this week’s episode of Empire, but when am I? Jamal continued to struggle to find his voice as an artist. Hakeem’s mouth ended up getting him beat up by kidnappers. The fight caused him PTSD and head trauma, all of which may affect his career and livelihood. Lucious tried to remain relevant, while Cookie got it POPPIN’ with her new bae Laz, portrayed by Adam Rodríguez.

I yelped the second Cookie was ready to get physical—but I stopped breathing when Laz threw Cookie onto the counter, and revealed that he has a longhorn bull tatted on his back. Why does that even matter? Well, when Hakeem saw his kidnappers change their shirts, he noticed that they had the same tattoo on their backs. Is Laz in love, or trying to get in good with Cookie to extort her and the Lyon family? –Taj Rani

Olivia unleashed havoc on Washington, D.C., again. Papa Pope crashed Fitz’s impeachment victory party without actually being in the room. The leader of the free world learned of his escape from prison (thanks to Olivia and Mellie), during champagne toasts. But that wasn’t the only event rocking the nation’s capital. The arrival of an OPA client, Hannah Taylor, sent shock waves throughout Liv’s office, when Hannah revealed that famed author and professor Frank Holland sexually assaulted her. Before this was brought to Liv’s attention, he’d received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Holland, who’s also Hannah’s professor, was accused of the same heinous crime by 22 other women, which his wife helped him sweep under the rug. Liv took down Holland publicly, but now she’s kind of leading a new role: President of the United States. Cyrus dropped a bean in Liv’s head that she pretty much runs the Oval Office, which is partly true. –Camille Augustin

This week’s episode of How to Get Away With Murder was a mess. Lawyers took part in illegal acts to win–or lose–their respective cases. A couple examples: One prosecutor had intimate relations with his client, and Eve doctored medical forms to get Nate Lahey’s name cleared from his wife’s death. But the last 10 minutes of the episode? ::fans self:: Annalise and Bonnie’s interaction was too intense. I’ve always wondered when Bonnie would tell Annalise how she really felt, and she finally did. “I want you to die,” Bonnie told Annalise. Whoa. But there’s more to Bonnie’s rage: In the last 30-seconds of the episode, it seems as though she might’ve killed D.A. Emily Sinclair. Could she be behind Annalise’s mysterious gunshot wound, too? –Camille Augustin ♦

Oh wow, I had no idea of the background of this episode of Scream Queens. That makes it so much more interesting (it’s so intertextual!).

Congratulations to Tavi for delivering such an awesome performance! Feather seems like a complicated character to play, despite her light-hearted/silly personality.

Also, I really do think the show is on the side of the girls – it may make fun of them but it still emphasizes their friendships. Their best chance of surviving/catching the killer(s) is by sticking together. (And I hope they rescue Feather eventually!)